Haley
Sweetland Edwards
Columbia University, Graduate School of
Journalism
Haley Sweetland Edwards has spent the last year
studying international politics at the Columbia Journalism School, where she
wrote primarily about the role of digital media in conflict zones. She reported
her master’s thesis from Indian‐held Kashmir. Before returning
to graduate school last fall, Haley was a reporter at The Seattle Times, where
she covered a variety of topics ranging from the 2008 presidential election and
natural disasters to local chihuahua races. She has written travel stories for
the paper from Cambodia, Vietnam, Syria, Jordan and a handful of other locales.
After graduating from Yale with a degree in philosophy and history in 2005,
Haley helped launch and edit The Internationalist, a quarterly print magazine
about foreign and domestic culture and politics. She was born and raised in
California, Lake Tahoe, and off the coast of Central America, and has ridden
her bicycle across the United States and Canada twice.
Sandra Garcia
Emerson College, Department of Journalism
Sandra (Sandie) Garcia recently graduated with
her Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from
Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Her passion for writing has been
fueled through various internships and unique opportunities. Her most memorable
experience came in the Summer of 2008 when she worked for the Olympic News
Service in Beijing, China. Sandie’s love for foreign affairs, especially in
Asian studies, brought her to Japan.
Sandie was born in Miami, Florida and spent most
of her life in Baltimore, Maryland. She traveled extensively throughout the
eastern United States with her family, who love the outdoors. Sandie was a
competitive figure skater and dancer throughout high school and college. She
loves dogs and has a heart for the homeless, having spent time volunteering at the
Helping Up Mission in Baltimore since an early age. She received a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Communications from Allegheny College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania in 2003.
Catherine Krikstan
University of Maryland, Philip Merrill College
of Journalism
Catherine Krikstan is
a graduate student at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of
Journalism. She graduated cum laude from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a
Bachelor of Art in English and a minor in Asian Studies. As an undergraduate,
she served as president of the college’s Asian Studies Club and was a recipient
of the Asian Studies Award. She had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad
at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. While there, she
traveled to Vietnam, Thailand and mainland China. She plans to pursue a career
in magazine writing. She is from Silver Spring, Maryland.
Joseph Lin
Columbia University, Graduate School of
Journalism
Joseph C. Lin is a photographer and multimedia
journalist with extensive knowledge and interest about Asia. He received his
M.S. in Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and studied
architecture for two years before changing majors to receive a B.F.A in
Photography from Pratt.
His life was changed in the fall of 2007, when
he criss‐crossed China for three
months to photographically document the dichotomy between old and new China. He
experienced everything from the dusty air of Tibet, to the congested roads of
Shanghai. The memories of the people he met and the places he walked forever
cemented within him a passion for Asia and for travel.
Kathleen Massara
New York University, Arthur L. Carter Journalism
Institute
Kathleen Massara is a Master’s candidate in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism
program at New York University and is an editorial intern at The Paris Review.
She received her B.A. in political science from McGill University in 2004. As
an English tutor in Tokyo from 2005‐2006, Kathleen edited Mariko
Uchida’s Ph.D. dissertation and PowerPoint presentation titled ‘Cultural
Industry and the Government: The Case of ‘Kontenzu’
Policy in Japan’ for ICCPR 2006, the fourth annual conference on cultural
policy research in Vienna, Austria. After returning to the United States,
Kathleen continued to be interested in East Asian affairs. Her research
interests include: the construction of culture and identity in Japan, issues
associated with U.S. foreign policy, and Asian regionalism.
Michael Miller
New York University, Arthur L. Carter Journalism
Institute
Michael is a journalist currently interning with
the Associated Press in Mexico City. He holds a dual MA in journalism and Latin
American studies from New York University and a BA in philosophy and Spanish
from the University of Chicago. His interest in Asian culture, politics and
markets was sparked by a 2007 trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Japan.
He has lived in Northern Ireland, Spain,
Venezuela, Mexico and the United States and has written for various
publications including Newsweek International, the New York Daily News, the
Associated Press and the Brooklyn Rail. He was born and raised in Columbia,
Missouri, where he learned to read, write and kick a soccer ball. He hopes to
spend his twenties traveling and reporting with his girlfriend, Hannah.